52-961: FedExForum is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee . It is the home of the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the NCAA Division I men's basketball program of the University of Memphis , both of whom previously played home games at the Memphis Pyramid . The venue also has the capability of hosting ice hockey games, concerts , and family shows. The arena officially opened in September 2004 after much debate and also
104-590: A derecho wind storm on July 22, 2003 , that nearly brought down the cranes that were building it near the famed Beale Street . It was built at a cost of US$ 250 million and is owned by the City of Memphis; naming rights were purchased by one of Memphis's best-known businesses, FedEx , for $ 92 million. FedExForum was financed using $ 250 million of public bonds , which were issued by the Memphis Public Building Authority (PBA). FedExForum
156-461: A "brand refresh" on July 1, 2023, the same day that Jacksonville State, Liberty, New Mexico State, and Sam Houston joined. The former abbreviation of "C-USA" was retired in favor of "CUSA", and the logo was slightly updated. On November 27, 2023, Pete Thamel reported on X that Conference USA was expected to add Delaware as a new member for the 2025–26 season. On Tuesday, November 28, 2023, both CUSA and Delaware announced on their websites and social
208-670: A Memphis Tigers alum and former Memphis Grizzlies player. The Church of God in Christ , Inc. (COGIC) is a Christian organization in the Holiness-Pentecostal tradition. It is the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States held their annual Convocation at the FedExForum from 2004 to 2007. The arena hosted Monster Jam for a few years, then in 2019 hosted Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live. In order to keep
260-541: A full-sized practice basketball court, visible from the huge lobby. The plans called for a mass transit bus depot, which brought a federal grant of $ 6 million, but the depot was changed to a premium parking garage, and Memphis had to return the money. FedExForum's interior was designed to pay tribute to Memphis' musical heritage, with paintings and murals depicting some of the city's most famous artists including Justin Timberlake , Elvis Presley , and B.B. King . Most of
312-673: A location, often with the specific intent of comparing an idea to a sporting event. Such examples of these would be terms such as "the arena of war", "the arena of love" or "the political arena". Conference USA Conference USA ( CUSA ) is an intercollegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States . The conference participates in the NCAA 's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas . Member departing for
364-521: A national team championship while a member of the conference is Jacksonville State , which won the 2024 bowling championship in its first season of both varsity bowling and CUSA membership. The only other school to have won such a championship while a CUSA member is Marshall , which moved to the Sun Belt Conference in 2022. Marshall won the 2020–21 men's soccer championship in May 2021 (with
416-718: A ninth member, Army , which was C-USA football-only, opted to become an independent in that sport again. With the loss of these members, CUSA lured six schools from other conferences: UCF and Marshall from the MAC , as well as Rice , SMU , Tulsa , and later UTEP from the WAC . UCF played in the MAC for football only; for all other sports, it was a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN). With CUSA's membership now consisting of 12 schools, all of which sponsor football,
468-598: A renovation of the coaches' offices, and office space for FedExForum employees. In 2017, the Grizzlies announced a $ 1.8 million renovation to the arena, which includes a HD scoreboard four times the size of the former, new HD displays, new LED Lighting, and other additional fan amenities, which were completed in time for the beginning of the 2017-2018 NBA Season. Arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre , musical performances , and/or sporting events . It
520-476: Is also the sport of indoor American football (one variant of which is explicitly known as arena football), a variant of the outdoor game that is designed for the usual smaller playing surface of most arenas; variants of other traditionally outdoor sports, including box lacrosse as well as futsal and indoor soccer , also exist. The term "arena" is also used loosely to refer to any event or type of event which either literally or metaphorically takes place in such
572-429: Is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators, and may be covered by a roof. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the lowest point, allowing maximum visibility. Arenas are usually designed to accommodate a multitude of spectators. The word derives from Latin harena , a particularly fine-grained sand that covered the floor of ancient arenas such as
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#1732784023166624-635: The 2024 tournament . FedExForum was one of the four regional finals in the 2010 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament . On March 12–15, 2014, the American Athletic Conference hosted their inaugural tournament at the FedExForum. It hosted the tournament again in 2019. On September 21, 2006, the Nashville Predators and the Columbus Blue Jackets played an NHL preseason game at FedExForum,
676-545: The American Athletic Conference , which had been rocked by the impending departure of three of its most prominent schools ( Cincinnati , Houston , UCF ) for the Big 12 Conference , was preparing to receive applications from six CUSA members: Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA. ESPN reported the next day that The American had received all six schools' applications, and The American announced all six as future members on October 21, though it did not announce
728-628: The Colosseum in Rome , Italy, to absorb blood. The term arena is sometimes used as a synonym for a very large venue such as Pasadena's Rose Bowl , but such a facility is typically called a stadium . The use of one term over the other has mostly to do with the type of event. Football (be it association , rugby , gridiron , Australian rules , or Gaelic ) is typically played in a stadium, while basketball , volleyball , handball , and ice hockey are typically played in an arena, although many of
780-939: The Mountain West Conference in 2026. On November 5, 2024, the conference announced that former full member South Florida would join as an affiliate member in beach volleyball in 2025. In 2019, Conference USA inducted its first Hall of Fame class, comprising 20 student-athletes, three coaches, and two administrators. The inductees included former University of Cincinnati basketball player Kenyon Martin , baseball player Kevin Youkilis , and men's basketball head coach Bob Huggins . Conference USA sponsors championship competition in eight men's and 11 women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Twelve schools are affiliate members—one in baseball, four in beach volleyball, six in bowling, and one in both beach volleyball and bowling. The most recent changes in sports sponsorship were
832-400: The Mountain West Conference in 2026. In this table, all dates reflect the calendar year of entry into Conference USA, which for spring sports is the year before the start of competition. In this table, all dates reflect each school's actual entry into and departure from Conference USA. For spring sports, the joining date is the calendar year before the start of competition. For fall sports,
884-492: The PMG Clash of Legends independent show on April 27, featuring Hulk Hogan versus Paul Wight . In 2015, it hosted Fastlane on February 22. The first of five WWE house shows took place on September 19, 2004, shortly after the venue opened. It has hosted seven episodes of WWE Raw and four of WWE SmackDown . One notable instance of WWE at the arena was when Daniel Bryan "occupied" Raw with hundreds of his fans inside
936-453: The WAC , New Mexico State and Sam Houston . Liberty and New Mexico State previously played football as FBS independents , while Jacksonville State and Sam Houston played at the FCS level in their respective conferences. On October 7, 2022, Pete Thamel of ESPN reported that current football-sponsoring ASUN member Kennesaw State was in talks to become the tenth member of Conference USA for
988-632: The 2016 season, presumably keeping the school in CUSA for the immediate future. The return of football was later pushed back to 2017 with their first game in September. The Blazers won the 2018 conference championship their second year back and won the CUSA title again in 2020. Commissioner Britton Banowsky stepped down on September 15, 2015, to become the head of the College Football Playoff Foundation. Executive associate commissioner and chief operating officer Judy MacLeod
1040-625: The 2024 season, and that Florida Atlantic and UAB would remain in CUSA beach volleyball after otherwise departing for The American. On May 10, 2023, CUSA announced that it would add bowling , a women-only sport in the NCAA, effective in 2023–24. The Southland Bowling League , a single-sport conference established by the Southland Conference , was merged into CUSA. The bowling league added Wichita State when it elevated its club team to varsity status in 2024–25. The conference unveiled
1092-501: The 2024 season. One week later, CUSA officially announced Kennesaw State's 2024 entry. This was followed by the Sun Belt Conference adding beach volleyball for the 2023 season (2022–23 school year), taking with it the three full SBC members that had previously housed that sport in CUSA: Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, and Louisiana–Monroe. Southern Miss also left CUSA beach volleyball as part of its full-time move to
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#17327840231661144-573: The A-10 and accelerated its recently established football program, which was set to begin play in 2013 as an FCS school, to FBS in 2015 with full conference rights in 2016. On November 27, 2012, it was announced that Tulane would leave the conference to join the Big East in all sports, and East Carolina would join the Big East for football only (ECU's membership was upgraded to all-sports in March 2013 after
1196-707: The Arena's restaurants are named in conjunction with FedExForum's overall theme of music with Opus Restaurant and the Blue Note Lounge. The two other restaurants are sponsor-driven with the Lexus Lounge just off the Arena Floor and Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 in the Grand Lobby of the Arena. FedExForum was the first arena to utilize new "see-through" shot clock units which allow spectators seated behind
1248-536: The Big East's non-football members, except ACC-bound Notre Dame , announced they were leaving to form a new conference which took the Big East name, leaving the football-playing members to become the American Athletic Conference ). Conference USA responded by adding Middle Tennessee and Florida Atlantic , both from the Sun Belt. On April 1, 2013, Conference USA announced it was adding Western Kentucky, also from
1300-580: The Big East, including three football-playing schools ( Cincinnati , Louisville , and South Florida ) and two non-football schools ( DePaul and Marquette ; both joined the New Big East in 2013). Another two schools ( Charlotte and Saint Louis ) left for the Atlantic 10 ; TCU joined the Mountain West (and is now in the Big 12 with several other former Southwest Conference members); and
1352-518: The Grizzlies in Memphis, the City of Memphis has completed normal renovations to FedExForum to keep it up to NBA standards. In 2012, the arena's sound system was replaced and the main basketball court was replaced for the Grizzlies for $ 200,000, with the Tigers' court being replaced the following year. Three years later, FedExForum completed a renovation for the backstage areas, including a new video room,
1404-496: The NCAA men's basketball tournament; and at least one former conference would lose exit fees from any schools that departed for the new league. As a result, both CUSA and the MW backed away from a full merger. As of April 2012 , the likeliest scenario was an all-sports alliance in which both conferences retained separate identities. However, after the MW added more members, the alliance was apparently abandoned. For men's soccer, there
1456-578: The SBC. CUSA would add three new beach volleyball members for that season; Jacksonville State joined CUSA for beach volleyball in advance of full membership that July, Tulane became an associate member, and full member UTEP added a new beach volleyball program. Tarleton announced on April 24, 2023, that it would join CUSA as an associate member for the school's first season of varsity beach volleyball in 2024; CUSA confirmed this on May 11, adding that Missouri State and TCU would also join in beach volleyball for
1508-482: The Sun Belt Conference on October 27, followed later in the week by Marshall. On March 29, 2022, CUSA agreed to allow Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss to move to the Sun Belt beginning July 1, 2022, a year earlier than initially announced. In response to these losses, on November 5, Conference USA announced the addition of four new members to start the 2023 athletic season. These included two ASUN schools, Liberty and Jacksonville State , along with two from
1560-665: The Sun Belt Conference. Old Dominion , which already housed five of its sports in CUSA, moved the rest of its athletic program from the CAA (except for field hockey , women's lacrosse and wrestling , with the three sports joining the new Big East , the Atlantic Sun , and the MAC respectively because CUSA does not sponsor those sports) and upgraded its football program from the Football Championship Subdivision . Charter member Charlotte returned from
1612-652: The Sun Belt, to offset Tulsa's departure to The American in all sports which was confirmed the next day. The board of trustees in the University of Alabama system (of which UAB is a member) voted to shut down that football program on December 2, 2014, in a highly controversial move that many have attributed to a pro-Tuscaloosa bias (including trustees such as Paul Bryant Jr. , son and namesake of Alabama football coaching legend Bear Bryant ). According to Conference USA bylaws, member schools must sponsor football. In January 2015, UAB announced an independent re-evaluation of
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1664-472: The basket to see the action without having the clocks interfere with their view. The idea came when a fan of the NBA's New Jersey Nets who sat behind the basket at Continental Airlines Arena sent an e-mail to NBA Commissioner David Stern , asking for technology to improve his view, and Daktronics obliged with the innovation at FedExForum in 2004. The NBA approved the unit a year later for full use and has seen
1716-622: The clocks. On February 23, 2008, FedExForum hosted the college basketball game featuring the No. 1 ranked Memphis Tigers vs. the No. 2 ranked Tennessee Volunteers . The facility also hosted the Conference USA men's basketball tournament from 2005 to 2009. It was the site of the South regional semifinals and finals in the 2009 , 2014 , and 2017 editions of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament , and first- and second-round games of
1768-475: The conference adopted a two-division alignment. In 2013, CUSA entered its next phase with the departure of four schools (Houston, Memphis, SMU, and UCF) for the American Athletic Conference , the football-sponsoring portion of the former Big East Conference. This was again the result of Big East schools leaving for the ACC, this time being Syracuse and Pittsburgh , as well as Notre Dame for non-football sports. It
1820-472: The current season, see 2023–24 Conference USA men's basketball season . This list goes through the 2022–23 season. This list goes through the 2022–23 season. Champions from the previous school year are indicated with the calendar year of their title. "RS" is regular season, "T" is tournament. Women's swimming & diving was dropped after the 2021–22 season. Fall 2023 Winter 2023–24 Spring 2024 The only current CUSA member to have won
1872-510: The departure date is the calendar year after the last season of competition. Full members (all-sports) Full members (non-football) Affiliate members (football-only) Affiliate member (other sport) Other Conference Other Conference CUSA (abbreviated "C-USA" before 2023) was founded in 1995 by the merger of the Metro Conference and Great Midwest Conference , two Division I conferences that did not sponsor football. However,
1924-506: The dropping of men's soccer and women's swimming and diving after the 2021–22 season, plus the addition of bowling in 2023–24. Incoming members are highlighted in gray. Conference USA used a divisional format for football from 2005 to 2021. CUSA champions Bowl games Through the 2023 season, the highest-ranked champion from the so-called "Group of Five" conferences ( The American , CUSA, MAC , Mountain West , and Sun Belt )
1976-649: The effective date. The entry date would eventually be confirmed as July 1, 2023. The day after The American announced its expansion, The Action Network reported that Southern Miss had accepted an invitation to join the Sun Belt Conference in 2023, a move which was formally announced by the university on October 26. The report added that the Sun Belt was preparing to add two other CUSA members in Marshall and Old Dominion, as well as FCS program James Madison . Old Dominion officially announced its move to
2028-623: The first ice hockey game ever held at the arena, won by the Predators 8–1. On September 25, 2004, FedExForum hosted the Roy Jones Jr. vs. Glen Johnson for the IBF Light heavyweight title. Johnson won the fight with a 9th-round knockout. FedExForum has hosted three major professional wrestling events. In 2007, World Wrestling Entertainment 's Unforgiven took place on September 16, headlined by The Undertaker and Mark Henry , and
2080-588: The larger arenas hold more spectators than do the stadiums of smaller colleges or high schools. There are exceptions. The home of the Duke University men's and women's basketball teams would qualify as an arena, but the facility is called Cameron Indoor Stadium . Domed stadiums, which, like arenas, are enclosed but have the larger playing surfaces and seating capacities found in stadiums, are generally not referred to as arenas in North America. There
2132-498: The merger did not include either Great Midwest member Dayton or Metro members VCU and Virginia Tech . Since this left an uneven number of schools in the conference, Houston of the dissolving Southwest Conference was extended an invitation and agreed to join following the SWC's disbanding at the end of the 1995–96 academic year. The conference immediately started competition in all sports, except football which started in 1996. Being
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2184-423: The new units installed at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center , Spectrum Center , TD Garden , Moda Center , Capital One Arena , State Farm Arena , and Staples Center after the approval. As of the 2011–12 NBA season every NBA arena had implemented the transparent shot clocks, with Pepsi Center , The Palace of Auburn Hills , Oracle Arena , Target Center , and ARCO Arena being the last NBA arenas to install
2236-426: The official move to make Delaware the eleventh all-sports member of the conference. Six months later, on May 10, 2024, both CUSA and Missouri State University jointly announced on their respective websites that Missouri State would also join the league for the 2025–26 season, bringing league membership up to 12. The 12-member lineup will last only one year, as UTEP, the longest-tenured current member, will leave for
2288-444: The program and the finances involved, leaving open a possible resumption of the program as early as the 2016 season. On January 29, 2015, the conference announced that there was no time pressure in making a decision regarding UAB's future membership. The conference also stated that it would wait for the new study results before any further discussions on the subject. On June 1, UAB announced that it would reinstate football effective with
2340-493: The result of a merger, CUSA was originally a sprawling, large league that stretched from Florida to Missouri, Wisconsin to Texas. Many of its original schools were located in major urban centers and had strong basketball traditions, which helped establish the league on a national basis. The conference saw radical changes for the 2005–06 academic year. The Big East Conference had lost several members, and looked to Conference USA to attract replacements. Five CUSA members departed for
2392-487: The ring and surrounding the ringside area on March 10, 2014. On December 12, 2009, FedExForum hosted an Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight title fight, UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez In August 2010, the Professional Bull Riders ' Built Ford Tough Series tour made their first appearance at FedExForum. On August 4, 2010, FedExForum held the memorial service to Memphis native Lorenzen Wright ,
2444-492: The two SEC members already in CUSA for the sport (Kentucky, South Carolina), and the Sun Belt's FIU. However, the only MW member school that ultimately moved to CUSA men's soccer was New Mexico. For the 2013–14 season CUSA invited five new members to join their conference, with all accepting. UTSA and Louisiana Tech joined from the WAC and North Texas and FIU , (an affiliate member of CUSA joining for men's soccer in 2005), from
2496-424: Was a chance that the MW, SEC, and CUSA along with the one Sun Belt member (FIU), that sponsor the sport, would play under the CUSA's men's soccer program. The MW, which does not sponsor men's soccer, would take three of the four members that offer the sport (UNLV, Air Force, New Mexico—San Diego State is a Pac-12 associate member in that sport), join CUSA's three full members that offer the sport (UAB, Marshall, Tulsa),
2548-433: Was announced in early 2012 that Conference USA was in talks with the Mountain West Conference about forming either a football alliance or conference merger in the future. However, when the conferences discussed their plans with the NCAA, they were told that if they merged, the new league would receive only one automatic bid to NCAA championships; at least one of the former conferences would lose expected future revenues from
2600-465: Was designed by architectural firm Ellerbe Becket . Concrete work done with the help of Dowco Construction and Apac. The arena is 805,850 ft (75,000 m) in size, covering 14 acres (57,000 m). The Arena is round, with a dome. The playing floor is lower than ground level. It is capable of seating 18,119 for basketball and has 1,000 premiere courtside seats. There are 27 courtside suites, 32 club suites, 4 party suites, and 80 club boxes. It also contains
2652-578: Was guaranteed a berth in one of the non-semifinal bowls of the College Football Playoff if the group's top team was not in the playoff. Starting in 2024, at least one Group of Five conference champion will receive a berth in the expanded 12-team CFP. For the 2014–19 seasons, Conference USA was guaranteed at least five of the following bowl games. Stadiums and names reflect those in use during that period. Rivalries Current or former CUSA in-conference rivalries: [REDACTED] For
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#17327840231662704-525: Was subsequently named interim commissioner. On October 26 MacLeod was named the conference's third official commissioner, also becoming the first woman to head an FBS conference. Marshall University 's men's soccer program captured the league's first team national championship with its 1–0 overtime win over Indiana in the 2020 College Cup , held in May 2021 due to COVID-19 issues, in Cary, North Carolina . On October 18, 2021, Yahoo Sports reported that
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